


Scary, Wonderful

by orphan_account



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-28 17:23:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6338341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Judy loves being partners with Nick, but sometimes he can get carried away with his friendly teasing. Does he even know why he loves to mess with her this way?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Ever since Nick had become Judy's partner, there had been a plentiful mix of good and bad.

In the heat of the case they were electric, almost in tune with each others thoughts as they darted from place to place. They were truly partners in fighting crime and Judy felt immeasurably grateful that she had met the fox. Then there was the time off duty.

Judy didn't know what it was that made Nick poke fun at her ceaselessly. Of course he liked to tease her verbally, but that had been the case since the day they met. Judy could admit to herself she really liked their back and forth banter. What she did not like quite as much was the pranks. At first it had been innocent: messing with her phone so that 'ok' auto corrected to "i'm dumb," or giving her salt packets instead of sugar for her coffee. She was perceptive, however, and nine times out of ten caught his prank before sending a text or taking a sip. Yet there was always that one time when her thoughts were so wrapped up that she fell right into his traps. Eventually she learned to look for his go to tricks and avoid them, so that he had to come up with more elaborate gimmicks to amuse himself with. She didn't want to think about the money he'd spent at the joke shop on whoppee cushions or fake flowers that shot water at her face, or the fifty rubber carrots she'd found hiding in her bag, her desk, their cruiser, even in her fresh carrots at lunch, which she'd had the displeasure of biting into and chewing for a few moments before realizing her mistake.

The worst pranks centered around her computer, since she was hopeless with anything electronic beyond research and writing reports. First he'd put a sticky note under her mouse. Then he sneaked on to her computer while she was away and changed her mouse speed to super slow, and changed her default search engine to some foreign site which didn't even have visible search bar. And of course he pleaded innocent and denied having any know how to help fix it, so she spent time after work sorting through every setting to find what box he had checked or unchecked while he dawdled by pretending not to look at her and laughing under his breath.

"Any day, Carrots," Nick teased.

Judy's face writhed with annoyance. "You could help, or you can leave."

"And miss the moment when you finally crack the problem? I think I'll wait."

Judy's nose scrunched up into a scowl, and she resolved to ignore him.

Rolling his eyes at the half baked response, he leaned past her and within a few seconds seemed to magically make her computer work the same as before.

Judy blinked wide-eyed a few times before jumping on her chair and pointing at him. She spun around before steadying herself and saying, "Ah ha! So you are behind this. I knew it!"

Nick chuckled and leaned his hip against her desk, inspecting his claws. "Or this whole computer business just isn't as hard as you think. Ever consider that, sweetheart?"

"Please," she scoffed. "You've been purposefully messing with my stuff for weeks now! Admit it!"

Nick was obviously looking for a reaction like this, judging by the wide smile on his face. "Ok, ok, so I tried to have a little fun. Come on, lighten up, Carrots," he started to pack up and slipped on his jacket. "We're friends, right? This is how friends are."

Judy had nothing to say to that, and was left stewing and thinking as she logged off her computer and rushed to catch up with Nick who was holding open the door for her.

This is what friends were like? Judy had friends before, of course. People she studied with, people she worked out with, people she ate lunch with. They could all be categorized as friends. Of course none of them had touched her heart quite like Nick had, but he was a special case. He was her partner.

She ducked under his arm and out into the fresh night air. They had been staying longer and longer at the office, going over case files or making sure their reports were accurate as could be. Judy wasn't at all upset over this, but considering how well she'd come to know Nick, she was surprised to see him so easy going about unpaid work after hours.

"So where to, Carrots? Celery sticks at Henry's? Hot dogs? Or we could go back to mine and I'll cook you something nice and spicy," he said with a singsong voice.

"Don't even joke about that, Nick." Judy said with a shudder, memories of the last time he had offered to cook for her and she had foolishly accepted. He'd made a vegetarian chili that made her mouth burn like a campfire. She had eaten it all through tears of pain, while Nick kept refilling her water, looking like he regretted the idea, especially considering he'd only had a bite from his own bowl before giving up. 

"You don't have to finish it, Judy," he said, patting the sweat from her damp fur with a napkin. "It was a dumb joke! I have some carrots in the fridge, if you want them."

"N-No, Nick. It's real-really good, Nick," she stared him down through wet eyes, nose, and skin, her intent to show him he could play games all he wanted, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of showing him how it affected her.

He'd patted the space between her ears affectionately. "Ok, Hopps."

After the bowl was empty she downed the whole box of pawpsicles he offered her, welcoming the numbing cold they brought to her mouth. 

Both fox and bunny were so wrapped up in the regretful yet fond memories of that night that they both stopped mid-step in surprise when they realized they had turned the wrong corner and ended up at Micky's, the usual hang out spot for officers from their precinct. Nick never enjoyed his time spent at the old pub with it's stale beer and ancient wooden bar, marred from old fights and parties. It was a macho crowd that hung out there, who either watched sports on one of the fifteen TVs set up around the place or challenged each other to arm wrestles. The only reason they'd ever stepped a foot inside was because of Clawhauser. Apparently the cheetah had always loved the atmosphere of the bar, but never felt like he fit in, so having some friends in the same boat would make him feel like "less of a sore tail."

Judy was more than willing to help him out, and not wanting to be left out, Nick relented to join them after seeing Judy wasn't about to change her mind.

To Nick's despair, Judy loved it as much as Clawhauser. The noise, the people, the drinks and the energy all folded in perfectly with Judy's dreams of what life as a cop in Zootopia would be like, and most nights Nick had to drag her away to a 'classier' location for supper.

" _Ni~iiick_ ," she sang, twirling around to face him.

"No," he began, "No, no, no."

"Oh, come on, Nick! After all you put me through today, I deserve this."

"What-After all I put you through?" He scoffed. "I am a blessing. Admit it."

Judy smirked and turned to press her back against the huge door. "You keep telling yourself that, sweetheart."

The sounds of laughter and jeers of the patrons of Micky's harangued Nick's ears. 

"You coming?" Judy asked.

Nick rolled his eyes and followed after her.


	2. Chapter 2

The interior of Micky's was just as Nick remembered: loud, smelly, and made for larger folks than himself. Someone had put a footstool for the rare smaller patrons in the corner, and Nick and Judy climbed up and took a seat. The bartender, a lioness whose expression spelled "I don't want to be here," did a double take when she saw them waiting. She came over, half a smile creeping onto her face.

"Officers. Been a while since you've stopped by," she said, already pouring Judy's carrot juice and Nick's martini.

"Nick's been dragging me to all sorts of dumps," Judy told her, as if Nick weren't there.

The lioness chuckled. "If this place isn't a dump to you, you need to get your eyes checked," she responded wryly. 

Judy started to argue. "What? This place is great! It's got character, reputation, a steady clientele, it's central, it's..." The barkeep had already walked away, yet Judy kept listing away, eventually seeming to be talking to Nick once she realized her original conversation partner had left.

"...they actually have good non-alcoholic drinks, their cook meets dietary restrictions, they just replaced the stools," Judy bounced on the apparently new stool to illustrate, "and they only have two people who work here, which makes it easy to remember who-"

Nick held up a paw, shaking his head and suppressing a laugh. "Okay, I get it, you love this dump."

Judy groaned. "No, you entirely missed my point! It's not a dump, it's a, it's uhh..." She searched for the word, looking at the counter as if it were spelled there. Nick noticed suddenly an eyelash stuck in her grey fur. Should he get it for her? Should he even acknowledge it? It felt like the biggest decision in the world for some reason, as if it was risky if he did, risky if he didn't. If he didn't it would distract him for the rest of the night. If he did, at worst it might be awkward. At best...

What was he thinking, 'at best'? He refused to think of where his mind was leading him. He would tell her about the eyelash, let her get it off, and continue his night like nothing had happened. He was still staring at the eyelash, he realized, and tried to look away, but found Judy's eyes watching him warily.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" She rubbed her cheek, and when she dropped her hand again, the eyelash was gone. 

Nick blinked and laughed in a way quite unlike his usual self. "No, you got it."

That seemed to rub Judy the wrong way. "What does that mean?" she asked. "Was there something there? What was it? You better not have done something while I wasn't looking."

That made Nick smile, wondering how she could be so funny. "And how could I have put something on your face while you weren't looking, hmm? Aren't your eyes there?"

She glared distrustfully. "I don't believe you. Sophie! Sophie, is there something on my face?" 

The lioness turned from where she was rinsing cups at the sink and squinted at her. "Not that I can see, love."

Judy nodded, not seeming to believe it, and sank back onto her haunches, sipping her thick orange drink.

Nick sighed and swirled the toothpick that held his olive around the rim of the glass absently. He considered her mistrust in him, a recent thing that in no way could have anything to do with any small pranks he may have played on her. Still, it worried him. What if it stretched into their work? He couldn't allow that electric time together be ruined like that. He silenly vowed to try and do better by her, so she might trust him again.

Judy, unfortunately, did not hear his wholesome thought, and was regarding him staring at his martini and thinking he look  _very_ guilty right about now.

He noticed her stare and raised an eyebrow in unspoken question. 

She didn't speak, so he said, "What."

She shrugged, turning away to grab the bar's small menu. "Oh, nothing. You just suddenly looked very guilty just now."

Nick's face flashed through three different emotions, from disbelief to worry to his typical mask of smugness. He had been fighting the urge to spike her drink, but that would go too far, even by his standards. She'd told him she wouldn't ever drink, because she could never be certain when she'd have to spring to action, and booze made her extremely clumsy. 

" _I've hurt people,"_ she had said. Nick laughed, but she grabbed his arm, shushing him. " _No. I hurt them bad._ " She refused to tell him anymore, to his endless frustration.

Her mind slipped off the topic as she started to consider the menu, mumbling half to him, mostly to her self, about what looked good. Finally she decided on fries. Nick ordered a hamburger. They ate in silence, watching the soccer game and cheering with the rest of the crowd when Zootopia's home team scored a winning goal. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the kudos, I did not expect it to be so well received!! This is half finished, but I don't want anyone to think I've given up on this fic! I can finally work on it, and promise you the second half soon!


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